Wednesday, September 30, 2015

In a peculiar moment in last night's debate, Liberal candidate Lloyd Longfield challenged his fellow candidates to only take money from local donors in terms of fundraising. There's been a lot of money talk this campaign, but is there a serious influx of outside Guelph cash in the campaign in the Royal City?

The last day to submit your nomination papers to become a candidate in the 42nd Canadian General Election was Monday. Today, Elections Canada released the final list of candidates for your consideration this election. When you go to vote on October 19 (or before), this is what your ballot will look like:

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

It was standing room only at Cutten Fields tonight as the four major party candidates for Guelph took part in the third debate of the election campaign. Hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce and broadcast live to air on Rogers Channel 20, this debate was by far the most lively, and it was the first to include the Conservative candidate Gloria Kovach.

With all the talk about Uber lately, the city seems to have overlooked the fact that there may be some issues with our licensed cab companies. In a surprise announcement, Guelph Police has declared that they've revoked the license for Guelph Taxi, an upstart outfit that started running cabs in Guelph in 2013. A Guelph Mercury article in August started highlighting concerns about the operation of Guelph Taxi, which has now culminated in them being effectively out of business in the Royal City.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

To the degree that endorsements ever matter, I'm sure for a Green Party candidate getting David Suzuki's thumbs up is huge. The question though is: does Guelph care who Suzuki thinks should be Guelph's next MP? I can't answer that, but I can post Suzuki's endorsement video in the blog post below.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Without Conservative candidate Gloria Kovach, the social justice debate hosted by Guelph / Wellington Coalition for Social Justice and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario didn't have a lot of life, but in front of a packed house at the Italian Canadian Club, there were some contentious moments.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Homecoming weekend is always the pinnacle of the annual downtown Safe Semester program, the busiest of the busy first few weeks of the fall semester. The City, the Police, and the University walk into a bar have gone to great pains over the last couple of years to make this as smooth an adjustment as possible for the People. So how did they do this past weekend?

Friday, September 18, 2015

When Uber arrived in town this past July, whether intentional or unintentional, they debuted in a regulatory sweet spot; the Guelph Police Service, who is in charge of overseeing taxis and taxi licensing in Guelph, has no Police Board meeting in August. But it's back to work now for the board, and the main topic of conversation at the meeting Thursday was Uber, and one Royal City taxi company went on the record to say it is not a fan.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

One in three women will experience sexual assault in her lifetime. A statistic like that is one of the many reasons that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne came to Guelph today to announce $1.75 million in new funding for the province's 42 sexual assault centres. The funding will be in addition to the $14.6 million that those centres already receive, and constitutes an ongoing financial commitment to the base funding that allows services like Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis (WIC) to help the survivors of sexual violence who need their assistance.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Elizabeth May brought the Green Party national campaign to the University of Guelph earlier today to talk about their platform for education in Canada. The conversation after the announcement though turned to the young people the Green Party and May are courting, and whether or not they might be depended upon to make it out to the polls on October 19. May's answer reference a fairly infamous chapter in Guelph political history.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May once again graced Guelph with her presence Wednesday in order to announce a major policy initiative to address the needs of Canada's students. On the porch of Raithby House, in front of a growing, curious crowd of students, May promised to eliminate tuition and reign in student debt in a bid to motivate typically apathetic young people across the country a reason to paint their ridings green.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Although not explicitly an election event, it was hard not to feel a political atmosphere afoot at Fair Vote Guelph's "Your Vote Should Count" event last night. Over 200 people were at the Hope House downtown to see and hear from three of the four major party candidates on where they stand on electoral reform, as well as an informational talk from Fair Vote Canada as to the differences between "First Past the Post," our current system, and "Proportional Representation," which can take many different forms.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

With the local university back in session this week, there will a lot of students out there looking for a place to live for the school year. Finding a nice, cheap and clean place to hang your hat is always a challenge for students (not to mention other Guelph renters), so the last thing you want to deal with is the possibility that you're being ripped off. Unfortunately, Guelph Police are warning of just such a possibility.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Guelph is never short of candidates representing smaller, independent parties outside of the big four; Kornelis Klevering of the Marijuana Party has already declared, and so has Tristan Dineen of the Communist Party. Well it turns out that Guelph also has a Libertarian candidate as well, and Alex Fekri is looking to represent his party in the Royal City on October 19.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

It was a hot and sunny day, perhaps too hot and sunny to spend an hour standing on the scorching sidewalk outside your local Member of Provincial Parliament's office, but that was the scene in Downtown Guelph today as several concerned parents once again tried to lodge their displeasure with Ontario's revamped sex education curriculum.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Can you believe the 2015 Federal Campaign is already a month old? Neither can we, but as September begins, those of that run the wheels here at Open Sources Guelph are about to get serious with our campaign coverage, as the show post-Labour Day will start to share the mic with a rotating chair of local candidates who are all vying to become Guelph’s next Member of Parliament. Where do they stand on the issues? What do they want to do for the riding? What effect will their party’s victory on October 19th have on the country? Those are some of the questions we’ll put to our special guests, and here is when you can listen to their answers?